Predatory Marriage

Chapter 343. Jealousy (3)

Translator: Atlas / Editor: Regan

Leah's mind went blank. Ishakan's mood was so unusual, for a moment the insane thought popped into her mind...

...did I cheat on him and then forget it?

But no, that was ridiculous. Leah tried to gather her thoughts. She had met that man at the bookstore earlier, and the smell of his tobacco might have lingered on her clothes, after their conversation.

And it had not only been a long time since her visit to the bookstore, but she hadn't even been around that man for very long while he was smoking. Surreptitiously, Leah sniffed. She couldn't smell anything. It took a beast's senses to notice something so subtle.

Either way, it was a simple explanation. She looked up at Ishakan. That smile was still curving his lips, and it made goosebumps rise on her skin.

Ishakan didn't doubt Leah's fidelity. They were mates who had bonded their souls together. As they were each part of each other, their bond was eternal.

But even with that, Ishakan did not allow just anyone to get close to her. Those who didn't know Ishakan did not think he was a jealous man because he always outwardly appeared unworried. Those who knew him well knew that he was very jealous indeed.

People who approached Leah with good intentions were treated well. But he was not so sanguine with those that approached her with s3xual intent. With the instincts of an animal, Ishakan sensed it when someone was interested in his mate. In this case, without knowing anything about the circumstances, he sensed it just from the scent of foreign tobacco smoke on her clothing. It was almost more like sorcery than instinct.

As she wondered what to do, Leah decided a kiss wouldn't hurt, and caught his cheeks, brushing her lips against his. Ishakan accepted the kiss without hesitation.

His tongue immediately pressed into her mouth through her parted lips, and after a brief but passionate kiss, they broke apart.

"I seem to have caught some of the smell of the cigar the bookstore owner was smoking," she said.

"So?"

"So I need you to cover it up with your scent."

Ishakan smiled at the awkward attempt at seduction. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over to the nearby sofa. His hands went to the buttons on her gown, slowly exposing her skin, and then stopped.

"......"

He was staring at something. Leah felt a jolt as she realized what he had seen.

She had hand marks on both her arms.

That was when she remembered something else that she had completely forgotten. The man from the bookstore had held her very tightly when she fell.

This time, there was nothing she could say. If she had had a hundred mouths, she couldn't have said a word.

Ishakan's eyes narrowed, but he didn't shout. Instead, he whispered.

"Looks like Mura doesn't want to keep her job."

Leah felt fear.

"It wasn't her fault," she said quickly. "I asked her not to stick too close to me."

Quickly, she explained everything that had happened in detail, telling him how the man in the bookstore had caught her when she had accidentally fallen. Gradually, the glow faded from Ishakan's eyes as they returned to normal.

Inside, Leah sighed with relief. She honestly didn't know what Ishakan would do to the man from the store, but she had to save poor Mura.

At that instant, the gown she was wearing was ripped off her, the sound of tearing fabric echoing through the office. Ishakan's large hands rested on her thighs, tracing the faint white lines of her scars.

"Leah."

He bent his head to her legs, kissing the scar first, and then biting it with a brief flash of pain. He left his teeth marks etched over the scar.

"Don't let anyone else mark your body," he whispered again, lightly brushing the marks of hands on her arms. "I am the only one who can mark you."

Leah nodded slowly, and he smiled. He knew she was sorry for what had happened.

"Then let's treat them, first."